USA Boxing back in Spokane

SPOKANE - For the third straight year, top boxers from across the country will showcase their skills in Spokane.

The Spokane Sports Commission, the HUB Sports Center, USA Boxing and Northern Quest Resort and Casino are partnering on the 2014 USA Boxing National Championships Jan. 20-25.

The event will feature male and female boxers in the Elite division (age 19 to 40) battling for a national championship.

Both the men's and women's divisions will feature 10 weight divisions.

Claressa Shields, of Flint, Mich., and a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, will return to the site of her U.S. Olympic Team Trials win as she vies for her first Elite national championship title.

Due to changes made to Olympic-style boxing's age divisions last year, Shields was too young to compete in the Elite division in 2013.

The 18-year-old was named the youth middleweight champion in Spokane before winning yet another international gold medal at the inaugural Junior and Youth Women's World Championships in October. AIBA, the international federation for Olympic-style boxing, selected Shields as the Youth Female Boxer of the Year.

Shields' Olympic teammates Marlen Esparza, of Houston, and Queen Underwood, of Seattle, both claimed Elite national titles in Spokane last year and they will be back to defend their title in 2014.

On the men's side, three-time USA Boxing national champion and 2012 Olympic Trials gold medalist Cam F. Awesome, of Lenexa, Kansas, will defend his Super Heavyweight title, while Leroy Davila, of New Brunswick, N.J., will attempt to retain his Light Flyweight crown.

Preliminary action will begin on Monday, Jan. 20 and run through Thursday, Jan. 23 at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake. The event will move to Northern Quest Hotel and Casino on Friday, Jan. 24 as tournament action opens semifinal round competition.

Championship round bouts will take place on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Northern Quest's Pend Oreille Pavilion in Airway Heights.

Tickets for the event are on sale and start at $5. Tickets are available at http://northernquest.com/experience/entertainment#package-5664.

USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States' member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association and a member of the United States Olympic Committee.